This invention relates to arrangements for mounting a headlight or a lamp on one or more vehicle parts, the headlight or lamp being retainable in an opening formed by at least two body parts.
If a headlight or a lamp, hereinafter called simply a lamp, is sealingly arranged in an opening formed by two or more vehicle body parts, and is attached to one or more other vehicle parts, then it is possible that the lamp will not be sealingly retained in the opening if there are different deformations of the vehicle parts. This is a particular problem if the vehicle parts are made of materials which are deformed differently by stress and/or heat.
It is also possible that the mounting for the lamp may be damaged upon deformation of a vehicle part, so that the fastening arrangement will no longer occupy its original position after reduction of a deformation, as for example upon cooling. This could produce a gap between the lamp and a body part after deformation.
German Patent No. 43 21 389 disclose a fastening arrangement for a light strip comprising a lamp and a mask in which heat expansions are compensated and thermal stresses thereby avoided. The heat expansions are compensated by providing for lengthwise displaceability of the connection between the lamp and the mask. With this arrangement heat expansion of the light strip itself is primarily compensated. There is no arrangement for compensating differential heat expansions of adjacent body parts or of vehicle parts made of different materials.